Try-me is generally known as an operating mode of a toy which in it's normal mode provides one or more normal play routines and which provides in the try-me mode one or more abbreviated play routines compared to the toy's normal play routines. Typically, a toy having a try-me mode is set by the manufacturer to operate in the try-me mode while the toy is in a package on a store shelf. By providing a toy with a try-me mode, the user is able gain some idea of the toy's capabilities while the toy is still in the package on the store shelf. Try-me is especially useful for battery operated toys having a normal play routines of complicated scripts, long performance patterns, motor operation, displays, sounds and/or lights which consume a relatively large amount of battery energy.
Generally, switching between the try-me mode and a mode in which normal play routines are performed (i.e. normal mode) is done by detecting the state of a try-me switch by a computer chip controlling the modes and routines of the toy. Such a try-me switch is generally distinct from the switches which are used by the user for selecting a particular play routine.
In the prior art, the user is required to take some positive action distinct from selecting a play routine to switch the toy from the try-me mode to the normal mode. One known method of switching between try-me mode and the normal mode uses a removable tab which, while in place in the toy, actuates the try-me switch to put the toy into a try-me state. The tab, often a thin piece of plastic, sometimes with an appropriate message (for example, “Discard by adult, pull out for normal play mode”) is removed either automatically when the toy is removed from the package or manually by the user after the toy is removed from the package to enable the normal play mode.
It would be desirable to have a method of switching between try-me mode and normal mode of operation that does not require an additional component such as a separate switch for affecting the switching between try-me mode and normal mode, or does not require the user to take a specific action distinct from selecting a play routine, such as removing the tab.